Ego Tripping

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes (1921)

This poem by American poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967) contains images and allusions that are similar to the ones present in “Ego Tripping.” Hughes was a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, during which Black artists in major cities in America gathered together to make art and write literature.

“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou (1978)

American poet Maya Angelou (1951-2014) wrote this poem in 1978, four years after the publication of “Ego Tripping,” and the musical rhythms and bold tone of the speaker resemble those of Giovanni’s poem. Angelou and Giovanni were friends, fellow activists, and educators.

“The Crazy Woman” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1960)

American poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) was the first Black writer to win the Pulitzer Prize. Giovanni’s publishing cooperative, NikTom, Ltd., helped Brooks’s voice to become known in the 1970s. This brief orderly poem about a woman who refuses to sing in the month of May contrasts with the effusive female voice of Giovanni’s speaker.

"Ego Tripping: Jamila Woods Interviewed" (2018)

“Ego Tripping” continues to inspire Black artists, and this article in British music and fashion magazine Clash about Jamila Woods, an American singer, songwriter and poet, illustrates how Giovanni’s influential poem continues to make cultural waves around the world.